How to calibrate a compass
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- Опубліковано 28 січ 2024
- Compasses can sometime give inaccurate directions; this can be caused by a number of reasons. To be able to continue to use your compass you need to calibrate it. Compass Calibration is the process of finding out the precise direction your compass is pointing and, if necessary, making adjustments to your direction of travel based on this information. This process is crucial for accurate navigation. By understanding the basics of compass calibration and making necessary adjustments, you can rely on your compass to guide you in the correct direction during your journeys.
This video was suggested by Steve in Costa Rica
I love your little forays off the subject, particularly those with history. Please don't cut them out!
i second that, i only came across this channel about a week ago and have binged watched it, more for the way its presented and i love the littlle history i learn, like hoe the east got called east and so on. Yes pleas keep the chats
thank you
I fully support this statement, it's amazing how much he knows about history.
I was thinking this too, when he started on his little history chat
Ramble on I say!
This channel is pure education and entertainment. Most excellent.
Please never stay focussed. In my opinion, your best moments are when you're not focussed. Loved your explanation of why Britain is called Albion! In all my decades of existence, I never knew, until now.
I subscribed specifically for the waffling.
Carry on waffling....it is a breath of fresh air!
🎉😂😅Hurrayyyyyyyy. We have waffle! 😅 Thank you for another great video. And another lesson on history! ❤
I’m glad you don’t cut out any of the side topics you’ve claimed you would, always interesting historical information! Thanks for the “degree” of knowledge(pun intended lol)
I completely forgot you were talking about calibrating a compass before. Fascinating ‘waffle’.
Love your lessons and historical teachings. Keep up the fine work.
I would love a trip to the UK and a field course with you!
Wayne
Canada
What an interesting waffle! Keep them all in I say! Good video as usual. Thank you for your effort
Never cut the waffle! I loved the Albion and Dover cliffs explanation.
Keep on waffling, it's always interesting.
Your videos are an excellent learning experience on navigation and history. Never delete a waffle.
Fully agree with all the comments. Love watching your videos for the scientific compass content just as much as the historical "deviations". Thanks for sharing.
thanks for not cutting out any waffling
You have beautiful countryside, and it must be something to sit on a wall that is so many hundreds of years old. Just the sense of history from doing that....
Shakespeare and navigation - what could be better. As with your other devoted fans, I love the waffles.
Best video yet. Education with comic input. Brilliant !
One of the best waffles yet! I enjoyed that.
Absolute gem this man. Surely we all know by now, "I'll cut this out" means here comes the best part. 😄 Both your intended script and the spontaneous diversions are fascinating and fun. You deserve a much bigger audience than will likely be attracted by the channel's topic, important though it is!
Many thanks for "The waffle", it was both informative and historically instructional. Cheers.
I open your videos to learn about map and compass, but your waffles make it interesting.
I loved the segue into English history. Reminds me of my time in university where my old professors would digress from time to time during lectures. I used to hate it when I click on a video and the presenter would keep talking in circles rather than get to the point to boost their view times. I'd rather get my content and go, but I now know all those other UA-camrs were just going about it the wrong way, that I wouldn't mind waiting a bit to get what I came for if it meant an interesting discussion on some other topic. I reckon if I needed info fast I would've read a manual instead. Keep up the good work, and all the best to you!
An excellent video - on a navigational matter I've often wondered about.
The waffling is interesting. don't stop please. it is enjoyable to subscribe to a channel that is educational as well as fun
I also enjoy the history lessons. I think there are two types of error being mixed up here. When a manufacturer says that the Mirror compass has an accuracy of 1% , I think that means that if you point your compass a 100 times at the same object you get the same result within 1% either side of the average reading. It doesn’t require correlation with a gold standard. This is due to the manufacturing qualities and the human eye. This concept is Precision.
What you are talking about in most of the video is Bias (5 degrees in your example) That can only be tested by comparison to a gold standard (in this case a OS map). Combining a 5 degree west bias and a 1 degree accuracy means that your compass will read 4-6 degrees west of the correct magnetic variation. Many thanks for these videos. They are informative and fun
You know what man, your form of speech and courtesy to in how you talk to your viewers are a real inspiration to me. How do you do it? I'm just a foul mouthed roughneck American and I lack the patience and tact to communicate like you do. It's probably my greatest shortcoming. What is it? Meditation, finishing school, is this just how classy Brits are? Open to any mentorship?
your videos are very usefull !!
thank you Sir.
cheers from France
Great videos! Love the waffle too!
The waffel as u call it. These little snipits of history are nice fun way to get some history of places. So please keep wandering off topic an waffell away
I love your waffling. Please never stop!
HELLO lol, reading the comments i think you need to keep the waffles going. thank you for such a good channel, i have learned a couple things from you, i love nav and have done for over 40 years but its your waffle that i like
Since you love digressions,here’s one. On an airplane the compasses are adjustable. Every few years or if you add new equipment you have to do what’s called a compass swing or use a master compass which reads in reverse. You move the aircraft around a circle that’s marked on the ground ( with everything turned on including the motor) and check your aircraft against the master. Then adjust the compass with a brass screwdriver. The aircraft compass is never accurate so you mark down the variation and adjust your heading accordingly. As a side note compass navigation is rarely taught now with the advent of gps and self correcting electronic compasses.
Interesting side note: Some of the helicopters I was in during my time in the Navy, when starting certain engines, the magnetic compass in the cockpit would swing due to the magnetic field generated by that specific engine's starter motor. (Localized magnetic field generated).
Great video. thank you! Keep waffling…
Love your sessions. Interesting and easy to follow. Also love the history as well. Cheers.
So glad you don’t cut out the historical waffle. And great timing on the video. I just found an old compass I lost and need to be sure it’s still accurate.
Thank you for this video I absolutely loved it!
As others have observed Wayne, these wee historical 'asides' are part of the enjoyment of your videos. So please don't edit them out - ! 😅
I'm here for every bit of information you put into your videos mate, don't edit them too harshly.
Aww, this comment touched my ❤. What an absolute beautiful thing to say. 😊
Marvellous stuff! A man with many interests is an interesting man. Long live the waffle.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I came for the Compass knowledge but stayed for the waffles!
A very informative video. It brought back memories of being issued prismatic compasses in the army. We were always taught to check the compass for "I.C.E.", Individual Compass Error. A known error variation would be engraved into the base of the compass. In 20 years I only saw one compass that had a variation engraved onto it. Keep up the good work.
I once left a compass packed on top of crampons in a backpack for a few days that messed up the compass by about 100 d. I used a magnet to rub the magnetic arrow to re aline the magnetic direction of the arrow. Worked.
I love your rambles and find them informative and entertaining.
However, as you know, the earth's magnetic pole is constantly shifting every day. That is why a cell phone compass app is extremely accurate. A cell phone app uses a built-in magnetometer to find the current magnetic field alignment for its current position and then the app uses the World Magnetic Model to calculate the location and direction of the north pole for that location for that precise time and date. A map can only tell you where the north pole was at the time the map was made.
In my area, the location/direction of the north pole is currently shifting 6 minutes west every year.
Thanks for the educational waffle.
I tend to identify three references point I can see long range and two to three position with know bearing to those points some distance apart. The reason I repeat the process is we have concentration iron in the region. Doing it more then one time act as a confirmation. If I get wild reading, I know I'm dealing with a bad reference spot. I will do it somewhere else again. So I can tell what the accurate deviation is.
Subscribed for the WAFFLES! Love watching the videos for the compass and map reading skills, but the WAFFLES... Damn those WAFFLES are good.
Another nice one Wayne, thanks.
Enjoy your videos. Some awesome additional tips and history.
Thanks for making them.
Not sure if you sure made a video on this but how should you store your compass? In your bag, car and at home?
Regards,
Paul
South Africa
Brilliant!
Thanks for making the video. To clarify:
Westerly declination area -10. Minus 5 compass error:
If you take a field azmith you have to add the 5 degrees to the azmith before accounting for declination and going to the map. Field azmith of 260 + 5 = 265 - 10 degrees declination = 255 Grid Azmith.
In the same scenario with a positive 5 error you would compute 260 -5 = 255 - 10 = 245
Feel free to comment/correct me.
Yes that's right. If you know the compass has an error, remove the error first, then adjust for declination.
e.g.
West 10 declination
Compass error -5
Grid bearing 123
To adjust to a magnetic bearing you will add the declination:
So 123 + 10 = 133
But if you don’t account for the error the direction walked will not be 133 it will be 128
Or
East 15 declination
Compass error +5
Grid bearing 345
The Magnetic bearing should be 330
But if you don’t account for the error the direction walked will not be 330 it will be 335
Thanks for the response. I enjoy history so the waffling is an added bonus.
These are my people!
Very interesting, having dabbled in this with the Army we used to check for compass error (ICE) using military GPS run over a distance between two ranging poles. The supposed error of this was described as "sub Mil" and was the same system used to orientate artillery guns, so fairly critical! Unfortunately it's not something possible with consumer level GPS. Regarding points on a map being accurately surveyed, we were told points such as road crossings were best used and were "points of firm map detail".. may have been military BS.. but it makes sense.
If you look on OS maps you will see small black dots with numbers next (or near) to them. The number are printed in Black (don’t use the dots or numbers printed in Orange). These are spot heights and the black printed number signify that a person has gone these and spent hours getting multiple sweeps and fixes on a (gov/mil standard) GPS. These would be the best things to use to taking a bearing. The problem is that there isn’t normally something at the exact point of the spot height to aim your compass at - which is why I tend to use old (200 year +) walls, or a trig point if there is one.
Great!
Don’t stop the waffle .That is as interesting as the subject you are teaching.🎉
Thanks interesting stuff. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that smartphone compass apps are woefully innacurate.
To coin a NEW word I’m inventing the name Coddiwaffling to describe your hiking/waffling 😂
bro the waffle was the best part, more waffles
I had time to spare while camping in Ontario, Canada. I came from a western Province, so, I did not know the immediate magnetic declination for that area. I located the North Star (Polaris) at night, and set two wooden poles up in line directly north-south. Next morning, I took the reading, which was true north. From that, I determined the magnetic variation for my location.
The declination in that area is quite significant
@@TheMapReadingCompany Actually, I was to the left of Thunder Bay, near Dryden Ontario, and it was pretty close to true North at that time hardly noticeable. (On official site, it was about 0.26 degrees west). In Edmonton, Alberta, though, it was over 14 degrees East. Canada is huge.
these are great vids, even with the off topic bits as they make a firmer foundation to what your doing in the vid! please leave the off subject bits in 😁
fascinating subject tho! just out of curiosity, if the compass has metal in the case doesn't that affect the compass too? the reason i ask is that olde gallions (like nelsons) had their compasses in metal casings! (i guess metal would be put round it to correct it to known north!)
Ship's compasses can be calibrated which, in this case, means the direction they point can be altered. This is done by moving magnets which are positioned around it or moving large metal spheres or blocks.
Handheld Land Nav compass are sometime made of metal but whether this affects the compass depends or where-abouts the metal (or its constituents) are on the periodic table - almost started to waffle in a YT comment reply there 😊
Superb video. If your watch is exactly correct could you use is on a sunny day to establish a direct line to south?
Make a video discussing how the magnetic north pole has been moving, and now moving at an accelerating rate. NOAA web site has a chart of the pole's path since the 1800s. Airport runways have been getting renamed as the direction to them from the compasses changing. There are even some ongoing theories about a pole shift (sun goes through one every eleven years, earth seems to go through it six to twelve thousand years).
Please don't cut the waffle. It is very interesting.
Here when doing a boat navigation course they teach the issue of compass error as on many boats they have big magnetic speakwers and other things that put the reading way out. I think they may even test the compass by putting it in a metal cage?
My goodness! Vikings, Saxons, Romans, olde English swearing.....who says land navigation isn't exciting!!😂
I wonder how many people have Googled Henry V (Shakespear) to find out what word was censored
Very interesting teaching on compass and orientations. I watched a few other videos before and I find the waffling very welcome. By the way, Albion is related to white (from Latin, "alba") as you very well explained. You also explained that Albion would be used to refer to what is now Great Britain, due to the withe cliffs of Dover. But Alba was also the name given by Romans to what is today's Scotland, right? As far as I know, due to the white skin people living there (probably Scots or Picts?). Ironically, Romans were using the same word in two distinct senses, to what are now two nations on the same island, under the same rule. We could say Romans were either very impressed by the colour white, or with a lack of imagination for their findings...or rather sarcastic. Do you know something else about this topic - Albion and Alba.-.. despite the political irony? :) Thank you for sharing knowledge on maps and orientation!
More lovely Dales, you're treating us! I always find where you are on the map and follow along on my copy, but that also makes me a bit sad as I know how nice a location you were filming in. When are you going to show a clip of you going underground, you can't be filming up there and never stick your nose down one of them big 'oles in those parts?
I love the waffles!!
👍👍
Can you make a video about which compass buy?
I've found a cheap compass (7€ miltec brand) do you think it can be a good compass or should I buy an expensive one?
Thanks for your answer 🙏🏻😉
I liked the rabbit holes you went down 👌. The egg white one ..Albulem.. / Albion .. …I’m going to check that out..🤔😂
Compasses ..I know that’s the correct plural.. but I always think that . …Comp .”eye “. Just sounds right. As for the declination and actually checking … that’s a very big ask lol. I’ve found the compass apps quite good, ..say you wanted to know whether a property had a south facing garden, It just less nerdy than whopping out a compass 😂. Also..a question..head torches.. ..the last time I was on hill, was petzl , three pack battery, with a tiny old style filament 3 watt bulb I think..😢 so that’s 1995 ? I’ve obvs kept up with led technology… and have used for work, ..but any tips for stopping the thing coming on accidentally.. in your pocket? . I’ve use tape and blue tack ..in the slide or press buttons.. I know I could flip a cell, but that’s hassle. I quite like energiser ..headtorches .. price is ok, .. but I deffo like the red light function. That some have, I think your advice about always carrying two…was good 👌. Back in the day…I don’t think anyone thought of that..just carried spare batts. Not asking for reviews…cos the “ best” this and “ best “ that gets so tedious…especially..when the most expensive..is ,funnily enough…always the “best”. 🙄😂. Actually..I’ve noticed you wear some expensive clothing ….🤔😂
Really informative reels. Thank you, you have been a great help. Would you know if there are any courses in navigation available?
Hi, I have a few spaces on some courses available - they are very popular so a few weekends are fully booked.
Have a look at my site to see if any of the available locations are suitable.
mapreading.co.uk/availability/
@TheMapReadingCompany Hi.
Thanks for responding. I checked out your site after I had sent my text. I'll be making a booking this week. I noticed you do a course around St Bees which would be handy. I'm doing the coast to coast so it would be good to try and link it in with that.
Make sure you check the availability on the course you want to book.
I used to guide the C2C - back in the day
👍
How can the magnetic south pole of a needle point anywhere else than the magnetic north pole?
Subbed because I love waffles … and chicken and waffles
The compass app on my mobile phone is very unstable and inaccurate. I use paper maps and also satellite photos to get known accurate azimuths to check my compass against. There is a park with a lake near me where I know by memory what direction certain landmarks are in so I can check a compass very quickly.
What could cause a compass to give an inaccurate reading (given environment is determined not to be the cause)? Great video, BTW, you're fun to watch 😊
Mobile phones are a favourite. Too close and your compass will be completely wrong.
@@roysoutdoorlifeThe presence of a mobile phone would fall under the category of environmental factors, as environmental in this context means influences external to the compass, not necessarily the natural environment. An internal error could be due to the compass needle's own magnetisation being out of alignment with the axis of the needle. The needle may be shaped like an arrow, but its magnetic poles are determined at the atomic level and could be oriented at any angle, possibly due to manufacturing error or storage near a strong magnetic influence.
@@worstuserever fair one. 🙏🏻
I wouldn't call this calibrating so much as compensating for error. Is there actually a way to fix and calibrate them? I just picked up an Israeli Defense Force version of the M73/M88 compasses, but it seems like the needle isn't pointing in the correct direction. Is there a way I can actually calibrate it to magnetic north?
Thank you for this video. I have one question left. Let‘s say I have to correct the compass +2°, couldn’t I just add this to my declination correction on my suunto compass? In germany where I life, we have today a declination of 2°. Couldn‘t I just set the correction than to 4° and fix declination and calibration together? kind regards, Ferry
Yes you can!, but as the declination changes all the time I would always just adjust the error before I started doing anything else. But as I've said many times, there are many ways to do most things. If you prefer to add or subtract the error and the declination together that's fine. Always do what you find the best the best way for you - and not some strange guy from UA-cam.
Assuming the error is in the compass, what would cause this other than shoddy design/construction?
Also, are those compasses that are obviously inaccurate (via testing), are they _consistantly_ wrong, as you suggest? Or maybe they wrong _at random_ in which case you cannot model a correction.
Hi Wayne, Many thanks for your videos. Question: I have a Suunto MC-2G compass. It serves me well during my walks in Scotland / N. England. I realise there are N. hemisphere variants of my compass and understand the magnetic variations that are expressed over the Earth's surface. The question I pose is: Why are not all compasses designed as "Global"? - and consequently are there any advantages of using a N. hemisphere compass compared to a global one? (in the N. hemisphere - obviously). I recognise that the direction needles are constructed differently to take into account the angle at which the magnetic field enters (?) - leaves the surface of the ground. Thanking you for any time spent replying. Peter
It's all down to cost and what you want to pay.
A “global” compass needle will rotate (spin) even when the compass is tilted over slightly as it has a different pivot point underneath and maybe a slightly taller housing. This is needed as in the southern hemisphere the magnetic field tend to be “slightly” upward and in the northern hemisphere “slightly” downwards. As you get nearer the poles this difference is more noticeable. With a needle which is balanced for a specific area/zone the end of the needle may drag on the compass base at one end of the needle if it’s used in the wrong area/zone. Global compasses tend to be a bit more expensive so unless you’re going to use it in other zones it may not be worth the extra cost.
@@TheMapReadingCompany Thank you Wayne - On a side note - just noted the height scales on the side of the mirror case! Amazing what is hidden in full view. Peter
What map ratio is most common or most used for traversing terrain?
1:24,000 or 1:25,000 for shorter distances and 1:50,000 or 1:63,360 for longer routes.
@@TheMapReadingCompany thank you, I just watched the video where you explained exactly what I wanted to know :)
I tried several Compass- apps, but no one of all functioned well. Accuracy over 10 to 15 degrees. Even after many times of calibration. Even so the compass in my Outdoor GPS, accuracy over ±5 degrees, and the calibration works very difficult and also quite inaccurate. My normal compasses (Original Bezard, Recta DT420 and Recta DP6) works very well whit in an accuracy of about 2 degrees.
Calibrating a compass: A thing is though, the Earth's magnetic poles are moving. Even compass roses at airports have to be redone every now and then as even runway heading markings have to be within so many degrees of their magnetic heading, of which some runway heading markings even have to be redone every now and then. Plus at times, there are more than 1 North magnetic poles and more than 1 South magnetic poles on this Earth, of which, one would need to know which strongest magnetic pole one was near.
As far as I know (so may be wrong) runway markers are the first two digits of the bearing of that runway - truncated so the last number is removed. They are only accurate to within ten degrees, so they don’t need changing very often.
As the red end of your compass needle is the North of the magnet it will always point to the South end of the earth’s magnetic field, which is where we call the North Pole. It doesn’t really mater where the North (Magnetic) Poles as you calibrate to the difference between the direction to the Mag. North Pole (wherever it is) and the vertical lines on map.
@@TheMapReadingCompany Currently, the Earth's North magnetic pole is heading towards Siberia, possibly on it's way to another magnetic field flip. (Sometimes the Earth's magnetic poles flip, sometimes they do not flip. They just move about and go back to where they moved from). Depending upon where one's airport is and what magnetic directions it's runways were, for some airports the magnetic field change might not be really noticeable, for other airports on this Earth, it might be more noticeable.
I know that here in the USA, Federal law mandates that runway heading markings have to be within so many degrees of magnetic heading (for safety). Some airport runway heading markings have been changed over time due to they no longer line up with their magnetic heading in accordance with the USA's Federal laws.
Of which side notes also:
a. Currently, the narrative is that the Earth's magnetic field is due to the dynamo effect of the Earth's inner core.
(Of which, how could there be more than 1 North and South magnetic poles at any one time at different locations on the Earth's surface? How could the South Atlantic anomoly even exist?)
b. Personally, I currently believe that a line of flux originates from the aligned magnetic fields of quarks and electrons (which make up atoms and molecules). That could help explain how there could be the magnetic effects we perceive on this Earth, as well as help explain how the Sun could have not only a main magnetic field flip every 11 years or so, but also all the magnetic fields observed on the surface of the Sun. (Which are many and change over time. How could such a thing even occur 'if' even the Sun's magnetic field were due to it's inner rotating core?) The current narrative we are being told concerning magnetism, (especially Earth's), just does not make logical rational sense. AT least to me.
The last time the magnetic poles “flipped” was 780,000 years ago. So I assume we’ll be OK for a while
@@TheMapReadingCompany Well, at the current supposed rate that the Earth's North magnetic pole has already moved just in my lifetime, I would have to respectfully agree to disagree with you. Some believe the Earth's magnetic poles will completely flip within the next decade or so, certainly in this century. (Along with all the potential existential events).
My question is, shouldn't it be possible to calibrate your compass for local magnetic declination simultaneously in the same way?
Since a map doesn't need magnetic needle, it has its own true north lines, If I have a reliable map, and I read exact bearing off it, let's say 350° to exact spot, from where I'm standing, then with my compass pointing at the set bearing, my needle will still be pointing at magnetic north, so any difference between North mark on the compass and the needle would be magnetic declination in the area, wouldn't it?
Yes you’re correct. The normal way of getting the local declination is to take a bearing from a map from your location to a spot feature then take a magnetic bearing to the same feature. The difference is the local declination (if you use Grid rather mag. North)
Great, thank you for confirmation. Your videos are truly educational and fun to watch. Also greatly appreciated.
Keep up the good work, Sir.@@TheMapReadingCompany
How far away should you place your mobile phone before taking a compass reading?
Far enough so it doesn’t affect the compass. I normally keep mine in the top of my rucksack and this seems to work for me.
@@TheMapReadingCompany thank you
I do think learning to navigate with a map & compass is worthwhile. However, I think if you actually checked a phone's GPS then I think you would be convinced of its accuracy. There is some dithering built into the system by the US government that deliberately degrades the position data of a single (non-military) reading, but that could be overcome by averaging readings. From a statistical standpoint, averaging 30 readings should indicate your position with a small error. Of course, this method is dependent on battery power.
Interestingly funny
Someone should pot up a pole somewhere and move it in accord with the Mag. Declination each year.
Waffle it !!! Yeah !!!
People who said to you "use a phone app to calibrate" are not people you want to depend on, as they seem to think that apps are everything. They are swiping their phones with no understanding of said phones, and worse, the world around them.
I trust astronomical objects more than surveys, i think calibrating a compass using a full moon after sunset is more accurate.
Where i live everything is so flat and boring. I wish i could find a map or something similar
How people made plot map.
Spirit level waffel😂,..to check; put it in one direction (does not matter which). Them turn it 180 degree (half a turn) the bell should read te same! If not, your level is off and need adjusting (if possible)… or replacment😂
we need more waffle...
Obviously a cuppa is necessary to calibrate a compass, but you say nothing about what sort of tea.
Car and phone GPS systems in New Zealand are very unreliable. Hopeless, in fact
WAFFLE. Waynes Additional Feature For Light Entertainment. You're welcome.
Brilliant